December 1, 2010  - "News You Can Use"

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I HATE Cold-Calling

My Marketing Plan - Week 2 - Is there a way I can avoid cold calling?

You know the drill.  You pick up the phone and start calling agents, CPAs or builders. You don't get through.  You get voicemail.  Or, worse, you get your prospect on the phone and they don't want to talk to you.  "Tom, thanks for the call.  But I already have a loan officer.  (Click)."  And that's a civil one.  A few rejections like that, and I start to question what I am doing.  In my mind, before I even dial I am getting rejected. 

Boy.  That's what I want to do today.... NOT!

Triggering Call Reluctance

What I just did was trigger my own call reluctance.  Now I am afraid or unwilling to make further calls, even though I know that this is the ONLY way I will start creating new relationships.  We are told we HAVE to push out of our comfort zone.  Most people I know, including myself, don't want to do this and will avoid it.  The result is predictable - sales failure.

Comfort Zone Selling

The key to pushing out of your comfort zone is to take small steps to creating new comfort zones around your prospects.  For me the first step in getting over call reluctance with new prospects is to NOT MAKE COLD CALLS.  Instead, I make "follow-up" calls.  I send my prospect a very short letter saying I think I have something to offer them.  Then I tell them that I will follow up with them within the next couple of weeks. 

PRESTO!  No cold-calls!  When I pick up the phone and call to try and get a face to face meeting, I am following up on the letter I sent. 

The intro letter is just the first in a series of between 6 and 10 letters I'll send designed to allow me to follow up.  

The next step?  Making the calls! 

These are part of the value package I have at my use in The Loan Officer's Practical Guide to Marketing

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